


A Longing to Inquire

by Jadesfire



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-30
Updated: 2010-03-30
Packaged: 2017-10-08 12:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/pseuds/Jadesfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>London, 1941.</i> At the height of the Blitz, two people meet in the bombed out East End.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Longing to Inquire

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://dark-aegis.livejournal.com/profile)[**dark_aegis**](http://dark-aegis.livejournal.com/), who requested a Jack adventure in 1941, before the Doctor and Rose arrive. This isn't exactly an adventure, but it's what my brain came up with...

  


_A longing to inquire  
Into the mystery of this heart which beats  
So wild, so deep in us--to know  
Whence our lives come and where they go._  
Matthew Arnold, _The Buried Life_

The all clear sounded ten minutes ago and Jack pauses to take deep breaths of the cold night air. Even with the smoke, it feels wonderfully fresh after the shelter. Around him, he can hear London stirring, people cautiously sticking their heads above ground again, assorted men in uniforms starting to assess the damage. Slipping past all of them, Jack heads for his rendezvous in one of the worst hit parts of the East End.

The back streets are still familiar to him, their twists and turns and shadows never really banished from his memories. Absently he glances at his watch, noting that he's going to be a little early, but then he already knew that. He just didn't know how early, until now. Smiling grimly, he waits for the road in front of him to clear before hurrying across it, slipping into the shadows on the other side. He knows where he has to be, because it's where he was before.

He waits in plain sight, his greatcoat and straight-backed posture making him look more like an official inspector than an unauthorised lurker. At least he knows he won't have to wait very long.

It feels like hours.

The fourth impulse to look at his watch gets the better of him, so of course, that's the moment when he hears footsteps behind him. From behind, Jack knows that he could be pretty much anyone, and remembers the moment of surprise, the sudden recognition as he turns round. And alright, he knew he'd been shocked, but he doesn't remember being that shocked. Or maybe it's just because he can read that face better than any other in the world.

Was he ever that young? The years have knocked more edges off him than he'd thought, if this is really who he'd been, all shiny and bright, with edges so sharp he could cut himself. Mega-watt smile and guarded eyes, always looking for the angle, the catch, the get-out clause.

"Well," the younger him says, raising an eyebrow. "This is a surprise. Although not for you, I suppose."

Jack isn't used to being on the other end of his own penetrating look, more confident than cautious, and entirely calculating. He waits, letting the other man look his fill, letting him lead. He's learned to be comfortable in silence, but he knows that's an acquired skill.

Apparently it took him a long time to learn, because barely a minute passes before the other him shrugs and says, "Are you here to enjoy the view or did you have something else in mind?"

Jack laughs. "Just sightseeing, sorry."

"Pity." Something beeps, and they both automatically reach for their wrists, although Jack knows it isn't his. He watches the younger man's eyes widen, just for a moment, before looking up again. "Look, if you're just here to be mysterious at me, I've got better things to do."

"Sure." Jack steps to one side, waving a hand to the bomb site beyond the wall. "Do what you've got to do."

"Which you already know, because you did this once already." Shaking his head, the other him pulls his sleeve back over his wristband and straightens his coat. "That all?"

"No." Moving closer, Jack looks into his own eyes, remembering the moment. He'd been distracted, and more than a little confused at the sudden appearance of an obviously older, more weary version of himself. The moment of connection, of knowing, had taken his breath away, although all he hears now is the tiniest intake of breath. He'd been running, looking over his shoulder all the time so that he didn't have to think where he was going. There had been no information passed between them, no useful insight that could have saved him a world of trouble, and the best adventure of his life. At least now, he knows why.

They stand like that for a long moment, until Jack feels a hand in his own and –oh. He'd forgotten that. Forgotten the way he'd taken the hand so close to his, running his thumb along the wrist, gentle and tender and _right_ in all the ways only he could know. Jack hasn't been touched like this in far too long.

His eyes close and he feels another face by his, the words warming his face as the other man speaks.

"Tell me."

Without opening his eyes, Jack shakes his head, waiting for the press of lips that is over almost before he feels it. Then he steps away, rebuilding his defences before he can look at the other him.

"Just," he says, voice harsher than he'd meant, "don't screw this up."

The laugh breaks the spell, and Jack feels the tension drain away, leaving him hollow inside, although he manages to smile back.

"No more than usual?" the younger man asks.

"Something like that."

"Got it." There is a brief hesitation, just the slightest pause, before the other him gives him the most casual of salutes and turns away into the night. He moves easily, smoothly, with a purpose that Jack has long since lost, and for a moment he allows himself to envy this man, with all that he doesn't yet know. In a few weeks, he'll meet the Doctor and Rose, changing everything, forever. As much as Jack would love to be here, he knows that he can't. Because if he stays, he won't be able to stop himself from asking questions that they won't know the answers to. Not yet.

Fastening the last buttons on his coat, Jack takes one last look at the direction his younger self took, then turns and sets off the other way. Back onto the slow path.


End file.
